Content Strategy Insights

Anika Anand loves engaging with her readers, not just giving them "fly-by content." In her role as a startup founder, she always asks, "What do we want people to do with what we're making?" This approach gives Anika plenty of opportunities to engage in one of her favorite activities: nerding out about content strategy.

Andrew Himes was one of the world's first digital content strategists. Working at Microsoft in the early 1990s, he helped found the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and helped build the first content management system, dynamically generating hypertext documents from a database.

David Fried integrates content strategy throughout his branding work at the digital agency EFM. Whether he's crafting a branding strategy from the ground up or executing a campaign for an existing brand, content is always a key element.

Russell Sparkman has been doing content marketing for almost 20 years. We talked about purpose-driven content marketing, how not to commit "random acts of content," and the neuroscience of storytelling.

Morten Rand-Hendriksen is a broadly accomplished web designer and educator. He is very active in the WordPress open-source project and is widely known there for his strong opinions on topics like the Gutenberg project.

Natasha Banta McDermott began her content-strategy career in 1997 at Clement Mok's Studio Archetype. Mok, who had been the creative director at Apple in the 1980s, put content right alongside design in their clients' web projects, creating some really cool opportunities for Natasha and her content team. Natasha and I talked about content strategy, creative collaboration, and team building in a vis...

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. As I prepared for this 13th episode, one scheduled guest fell ill and my back-up guest's kid got sick just as we were about to start the interview. Rather than risk the health of another guest, I recorded this quick overview of the podcast to this point.

Melanie Seibert is senior content strategist on a UX team at WillowTree, a mobile-focused agency that creates apps chatbots, websites, and other digital products for some of the world's best-known companies. She also teaches content-strategy courses both online and in real life. Melanie and I talked about both her work at WillowTree and her work as a content-strategy educator.

Warren Etheredge can help you find the stories you need to generate the content your customers crave. I talked with Warren about his Storyfinding method and about the art of conversation in general and interviewing in particular.

Journalism veteran Peter Herford talks about how little the management principles that underlie content strategy have changed since he began his career at CBS news in 1962.

Susan Walker uses a "30 Questions" method to test the accessibility and usability of the content they create at the Rutgers University Camden campus. Content Strategy Interviews are hosted by Larry Swanson of Elless Media.

Content research studies reveal which content performs best, garnering social-media shares and earning in-bound links. Few experts know as much about measuring the effectiveness of content as Eric Enge of Stone Temple Consulting . Eric and I talked about research that can inform your content strategy for SEO, content marketing, and social media. 

Rand Fishkin talks about "the SEO as content strategist" and much more, including empathy and teamwork, "10X Content," voice search, and his thoughts on this week's FCC decision to roll back net neutrality. Rand goes by the ludicrous title, Wizard of Moz. He's founder and former CEO of SEO software startup Moz , the host of Whiteboard Friday . Content Strategy Interviews are hosted by Larry Swanso...

Julie Copley is a Connections Strategist at Pop , a digital media agency in Seattle. We talked about how Pop is improving its clients' websites by being more attentive to inclusion. Julia is a content strategist and user experience designer with 10 years' experience in connecting customers and communities with product experiences they'll love. Her expertise includes assessing product-market fit, c...

Sara Wachter-Boettcher talks about structuring content, and - more importantly - how to help people and organizations create and manage it. Sara Wachter-Boettcher runs Rare Union, a Philly-based content strategy and user experience consultancy. She is the author of Content Everywhere (2012, Rosenfeld Media) and the co-author, with Eric Meyer, of Design for Real Life (2016, A Book Apart). Her lates...

Duane Forrester is currently VP of is VP of Industry Insights at Yext. He previously served as the lead SEO for Microsoft's MSN and then as the webmaster outreach lead for the Bing search engine. He has written on SEO and other marketing and technology subjects for Search Engine Land and other industry publications. http://www.yext.com/

Adam Fout is a "content sorcerer" with Blue Steele Solutions in Dallas, TX, where he develops content-marketing strategy and writes emails, blog posts, and other marketing content. https://bluesteelesolutions.com/ https://adamfout.com/

Paula Land comes to content strategy via a career in publishing and a ten-year stint at Microsoft where she managed millions of pages on the MSDN website. She currently operates a content strategy consultancy.

Do we really need any more content? Hanson Hosein has some thoughts on this, and much more, in this premiere episode of the "Content Strategy Interviews" podcast. Hanson Hosein was a pioneering digital storyteller as an NBC war correspondent and as a freelance news producer. He is currently the Director of the Communication Leadership program at the University of Washington in Seattle.